Creative Writing: Introduction to Prose and Poetry Spring 21
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Creative Writing: Introduction to Prose and Poetry Spring 21’ CRWRI-UA.815.008 Graduate Instructor: Harris Hayman Contact: [email protected] M/W: 9:30 AM - 10:45 AM +1(818)-419-5887 Location TBD Office Hours by Appointment “Artistic life begins in instinct and moves toward calculation. It begins in inspiration and moves toward repetition it begins in blind obsession and ends in self-possession. Whichever version you subscribe to, the loss of innocence is inevitable, and it is indeed a loss — but one that has its compensations.” Tony Hoagland; Real Sofistikashun, 2006 GROWING UP I am reading LiPo. The TV is on with the sound off. I’ve seen this movie before. I turn on the sound just for a moment. When the man says, “I love you.” Then turn it off and go on reading. Linda Gregg; from All of it Singing “To desire to play, to make literary structures that play into and in unknown or unknowable realms, those of chance and death and the lack of language, is the desire to live in a world that is open and dangerous, that is limitless. To play, both in structure and in content, is to desire to live in wonder.” Kathy Aker, “Biting the Error: Writers Explore Narrative” DESCRIPTION & OBJECTIVES The delight of this introductory course will be to dig our hands into the topsoil of contemporary poet- ry and prose to explore the complex and complementary tools writers use to eclipse the gap between thought and expression: as Juan Felipe Herrera suggests, “let us gather in a flourishing way.” As developing writers we have the daunting privilege of exploring the multitudinous gates of the mind. Carlos Drummond de Andrade writes instead, “This landscape? It doesn’t exist. What exists is vacant space, to be planted.” Learning as we walk, the heavy knobs and tuning forks of the Muse’s radio humming in our hands; listening as we travel: for voice, for form, for image, language, music, anything buzzing through the static... Through a range of texts we will consider the collapsed binary that places rawness and vision in con- flict with the skillful employment of craft. Returning to Tony Hoagland, we will open space for “blind obsession,” and “self-possession,” to intersect. As a collective we will work to retrieve and demystify the tools writers use to remove themselves from the endlessly anxiety-provoking game of stake, fo- cused on uprooting objective significance toward the reflective and socially conscious project of dis- mantling repressive ideas. COURSE STRUCTURE: The first half of the semester will be devoted to the craft of poetry and poetry workshops. Beginning Monday, March 15th we will transition into the prose/fiction component of the semester. Each week will be split evenly between a Monday craft discussion and your Wednesday workshops. Every Mon- day, we will end our craft discussions with an in class writing exercise based off the week’s readings. Workshops will begin the third week of class (Wednesday, February 10th). You will be divided into two groups for workshop. Every other Wednesday the groups will alternate. Everyone will submit two poems, two pieces of short fiction, and one piece of nonfiction throughout the semester. READINGS You are required to read all course materials assigned. You can find the readings with their correspond- ing discussion dates at the end of this syllabus. This course recognizes that your passion to write is informed equal parts by your dedication and enthusiasm as a reader. Therefore, it is imperative that you come to class having already completed the week’s reading assignment. I will supply all ancillary texts to the class via PDF two weeks ahead of time, or upon request. SUBMISSIONS Submissions will be read, annotated, and discussed by all members of the workshop. To have ample time to respond to your peer’s submissions, pieces for workshop must be distributed one week in advance. Additionally, it is your responsibility to bring two annotated copies of each student’s submis- sion to class (the original poem with your handwritten annotations, handed to you the week before & a photocopy to turn in). Please bring in 12 hard copies of your upcoming submission on the days you are assigned to submit them. Poetry submissions should be no longer than 3-6 pages of poetry. For fiction submissions, please bring in a short story that is 10-15 pages. Let the poem fill the page as it wants to. Beyond poetry: fiction, prose, analytical essay, critical point, etc. should be double-spaced, and written in a legible font. CRITICAL POINT // mini-symposia To hone our critical vocabulary, and ensure active participation in the class, on select Mondays, you and two of your peers are required to present and co-lead a seminar discussion; meaning, beginning Monday, February 8th, with the work of Terrance Hayes, students will be responsible for guiding the class’s discussion for that day. Your aim, in constructing a CRITICAL POINT is to present general observations of the featured writers’ work that resonate with you. What dominant techniques do they employ and what topics are most evident in their poetry? As a presentation aid, each member of the group must write a creative short response (500-750 words) based on a, “deep reading,” of a single poem, or excerpt. Each student must participate in two mini-symposia, in which the student delivers a paper (800-1000 words) OR creative short response based on a, “deep reading,” of some aspect of the week’s featured texts. The paper must feature an identifiable argument/thesis formulated to answer a specific critical question with a clear and elegant line of reasoning in support of the argument. The paper can specifi- cally discuss the book under question, the author of the book, and/or a set of poems. What the sym- posium paper is meant to explore the classes responses to individual style and voice. FINAL PORTFOLIO & STATEMENT OF POETICS At the end of the semester, you will submit a final portfolio containing all of the submissions you have workshopped in class over the semester: including two revised poems, and one revised story. As an introduction to your revised portfolio, you will also write a one-page Statement of Poetics outlining the craft decisions you employed in your revision process, drawing explicit connection between the craftsman from which you adopted the methodology and how you have chosen to further their pursuit. WORKSHOP PROCEDURES AND ETIQUETTE: The workshop is a sacred space. The act of writing opens the gates onto our most vulnerable selves, and the workshop must mirror that process as it provides a generative sounding-board for conscious exposition and critique. The basic philosophy of the workshop is that we learn best about writing by writing and listening to others constructively critique our work, and then by revising. WRITERS, when your work is being workshopped, I will ask you not to say anything until after we have heard from your classmates. After an open, salon-style discussion you will then be able to ask your peers any remaining questions that you might find useful in the re vision process. Keep in mind that you have not come to defend your work; moreover that t here is no expectation for you to explain it, either. Rather, you will respect the critical response of your peers as reference for your revision process. READERS, when we are around the table, with drafts spread out before us, a lot is called for in terms of awareness, paying attention, thoughtfulness, and intuition. As storytellers, we are trying to understand how the piece is working: Who is the speaker? Is the speaker driving the narrative, or is the situation creating narrative momentum? How do image and metaphor contribute to the architecture of the piece? By discussing the resonant movements within the piece, through the lens of our readings on contemporary poetics and craft, we will build an active vocabulary for generative critique. We will discuss workshop etiquette at length, together in class. However, my expectation is that we enter the workshop as conscious participants working towards a collective understanding of literary craft. This means we are not judging a work based on our personal taste, and moreover, it is not our focus to distinguish the piece as good or bad. How does it tick? EXPECTATIONS Attendance: Needless to say, attendance is required. Please inform me in advance if you are going to miss a session. Students who miss more than three sessions will not pass the course. Each student is allowed one excused absence. Please be on time, three late arrivals to class (10 minutes or more) will be treated as an absence. Late Work: Late poems and stories will not be accepted. The revision process is unending. However, due dates for critical points, stories, and poems are concrete. I understand what it is like to be over- worked, if you are feeling the weight let me know (in person, via email, through text etc.) and I will work with you to adapt the syllabus to your circumstances. Integrity: I will not tolerate any sort of plagiarism. If you turn in work that is not your own, you can expect a failing grade and a meeting with a higher academic authority. Conference: You are required to schedule office hours with me at least once during the semester. (I will pass around a sign-up sheet in the second week of class.) Please come prepared to ask detailed ques- tions or with specific topics for discussion. Email me directly to set up an appointment.